Time-domain thermoreflectance

Time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR) is a method by which the thermal properties of a material can be measured, most importantly thermal conductivity. This method can be applied most notably to thin film materials (up to hundreds of nanometers thick), which have properties that vary greatly when compared to the same materials in bulk. The idea behind this technique is that once a material is heated up, the change in the reflectance of the surface can be utilized to derive the thermal properties. The reflectivity is measured with respect to time, and the data received can be matched to a model with coefficients that correspond to thermal properties. Time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR) is a method by which the thermal properties of a material can be measured, most importantly thermal conductivity. This method can be applied most notably to thin film materials (up to hundreds of nanometers thick), which have properties that vary greatly when compared to the same materials in bulk. The idea behind this technique is that once a material is heated up, the change in the reflectance of the surface can be utilized to derive the thermal properties. The reflectivity is measured with respect to time, and the data received can be matched to a model with coefficients that correspond to thermal properties. The technique of this method is based on the monitoring of acoustic waves that are generated with a pulsed laser. Localized heating of a material will create a localized temperature increase, which induces thermal stress. This stress build in a localized region causes an acoustic strain pulse. At an interface, the pulse will be subjected to a transmittance/reflectance state, and the characteristics of the interface may be monitored with the reflected waves. A probe laser will detect the effects of the reflecting acoustic waves by sensing the piezo-optic effect.